Tuesday, February 28, 2017

After years
of photographing with DSLR's, I have taken the leap to mirrorless! Early on, I had used point and shoot film
cameras for family or friends-type snapshots, eventually moving on to digital
point-and-shoots. After retiring in 2002, I bought my first bridge camera. It
was a Panasonic Lumix FZ40, a nice compact 14mp - 24x zoom camera. While
getting more serious about photography and getting out of "auto"
mode, this was a great little versatile camera to start learning photography.

It wasn't
too much longer when, in 2013, I jumped up to a full size DSLR. The Nikon
D5200, a 24mp APS-C (crop) sensor with interchangeable lens was a big step up
in my photography use and experience. Before long I had acquired several more
lenses for the Nikon. It's a great
camera for all kinds of photography - portraits, sports, landscapes - but it is
bulky and heavy.

Because of
desire for a smaller, lighter camera, I had been watching rapid development in
the mirrorless field in recent years, with Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus and others
making huge advancements in technology. After much research I zeroed in on the
flagship Fuji X-T2. For me, besides reduced size and weight, the big features
were the 24mp APS-C sensor, the retro manual dials, amazing EVF, fast focus,
image quality, and available lenses. On
paper the Fuji, in a smaller form factor, actually outstrips my Nikon in every
function and feature.

Because of
high demand, it took months for my normal preorder to get filled, but once in
my hands, the sophisticated tactical feel of the body and knobs was an awesome
experience. Not having to fiddle in menus while having exposure settings all
readily handy right on top of the camera is just astounding! There is something
very comforting about the mechanical feel of this camera - you feel that you
are part of the photography process. It is just plain fun to use! The image quality is outstanding, and even
while still learning to use the camera. It's unadjusted jpeg quality seems
virtually to equal the Lr adjusted RAW files.

I have a lot
to learn and explore with this system, but one thing I know. Spending time with
this mirrorless camera will be an exciting adventure.